Intervention to promote physical activation and improve sleep and response feeding in infants for preventing obesity early in life, the baby-act trial: Rationale and design

Factors Associated with the Initiation of Added Sugar among Low-Income Young Children Participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children in the US

“…With the added sugar consumption, infants and toddlers may not intake the important nutrients that are needed at this age for their overall physical and mental wellbeing [23]. The professional nutrition and health community, specifically the American Heart Association and The US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, recommends that added sugar should not be included in the diet until the age of 2 years; limiting added sugar intake to less than 10%of calories per day starting at the age of 2 years is recommended to reduce the risk of related morbidities [24]. We found that only 13% of WIC children had their added sugar initiation delayed until they were 2 years of age.…”

“…To collect longitudinal data, interviewers conducted follow-up telephone interviews in English or Spanish every 2 to 6 months starting during the prenatal period. Once the child was born, telephone follow-up interviews were conducted when the infants and children were 1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15,18,24,30,36,42,48,54,60, and 72 months of age. The follow-up interviews were scheduled based on the birthday of the children; the interview window started 14 days before the child turns the age of the interview (e.g., 14 days before the child is 24 months old) and closed 28 days after the child turns that age (e.g., 28 days after the child is 24 months old).…”

Increased risk for excessive weight gain in infants who sleep less than 12 hours per 24 hoursCommentary on Yu J, Jin H, Wen L, et al. Insufficient sleep during infancy is correlated with excessive weight gain in childhood: a longitudinal twin cohort study. J Clin Sleep Med . 2021;17(11):2147–2154. doi:10.5664/jcsm.9350

“…5 A recent study showed that putting infants ages 6-24 weeks to bed consistently 1 hour earlier than their usual sleep onset time resulted in an average of 34 minutes more sleep per night. 24 Several prospective studies are encouraging parents to help infants acquire healthier sleep habits, move more, and spend less time in the car seat; avoid using food as reward or punishment (response feeding); breastfeed rather than use formula; and avoid electronic screen exposure before age 18 months. [25][26][27][28][29] Particularly intriguing is the Snuggle Bug/Acurrucadito study investigating the influence of sleep/wake patterns on gut microbiome development and rapid weight gain in infancy.…”